Health fund members to lose up to $1500 in government rebates in Budget 2014 move

MORE than 400,000 health fund members will lose up to $1,500 in government health fund tax rebates under a sneaky move in the budget.

THE fairness of Australia’s health system would be destroyed by new charges for doctors, medical tests and prescriptions announced in the budget, the Australian Medical Association has warned.

And some doctors may use the introduction of the new $7 charge to introduce a much larger patient fee of around $14 AMA president Steve Hambleton said.

“If you’ve got to charge everyone $7 and you’ve got to take on extra staff to handle the billing GPs may decide that to stay in business they need to charge more,” he told News Corp Australia.

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The warning came as it emerged almost half a million health fund members will lose up to $1,500 in government health fund tax rebates under a sneaky move in this week’s budget.

The hit to the hip pocket will come as a result of a measure to freeze the indexation of the private health insurance means test.

Health fund BUPA said the measure would affect 400,000 people a year across the health fund industry who would lose some or all of their tax rebate for health cover.

“The number of customers across our business would be around 110,000 per year,” a spokeswoman said.

“This just adds to cost of living pressures for those who are already being squeezed pretty hard,” BUPA managing director Dwayne Crombie said.

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Cancer patient groups warned the health bills of cancer patients and those with chronic illnesses will rise by hundreds of dollars a year as a result of a new $7 charge for doctors visits, medical tests and a $5 rise in medicine prices,

This is because unless the patient is a pensioner or a child there is no cap on the number of times patients will be charged.

The end to bulk billing will hit low income earners the hardest, the ten top bulk billing electorates in the country are in western Sydney.

In Victoria patients in the electorates of Scullin, Calwell, Lalor, Gorton and Holt will bear the brunt of the $7 fee on doctors visits and medical tests because they have above- average rates of bulk billing.

Between 87 and 93 per cent of the patients in these electorates see a general practitioner for free, well above the national average of 81 per cent,

In South Australia families in the electorates of Wakefield, Port Adelaide, Grey, Kingston and Makin will be worst hit by the $7 fee on doctors visits and medical tests because they have higher rates of bulk billing.

Between 82 and 87.5 per cent of patients in these electorates currently see a GP for free, above the national average of 81 per cent.

In Queensland patients in the electorates of Forde, Ranking, Oxley and Blair will bear the brunt of the new $7 charge on doctors visits and medical tests with health department figures showing they have bulk billing rates over 91 per cent.

NSW cancer patient and Cancer Voices Australia executive officer John Stubbs, who suffers chronic myeloid leukaemia, says patients diagnosed with his disease need a blood test a week and the $7 copayment and $5 script rise would add around $420 a year to their treatment costs.

The carer of a Melbourne Multiple Sclerosis patient who suffers a rare blood disease himself says the new charges will add around $190 a year to the couple’s health bills.

Breast Cancer Network Australia chief Maxine Morand said women with breast cancer needed three tests a CAT scan, a dexa scans and a bone scans to diagnose their disease and check if it had spread, the price of all these would rise by $7.

Many would see an oncologist every three weeks for the first 12 months after their diagnosis and these fees will rise as a result of a government freeze on Medicare rebates for specialists.

“It could be hundreds of additional dollars a year when these women are already under financial stress,” she said.

News Corp Australia has reported some women suffering breast cancer have already been forced to raid their superannuation to pay out of pocket medical expenses that can be as high as $50,000.

NSW Liberal MP Alex Hawke’s defence of the new charges as simply the price of “two cups of coffee” angered chronically ill patients.

“People with chronic illnesses can’t ever afford to have a cup of coffee in a cafe,” multiple sclerosis patient Robert Pask said.

Mr Hawke said if it turned out the $7 charge was having an equity impact on the chronically ill the government may have to look at capping it, he said.

“Some people are happy to pay for two cups of coffee but they are not prepared to pay $7 for a doctor,” Mr Hawke told News Corp Australia.

Originally published as Health fund members to lose up to $1500 in government rebates in Budget 2014 move